


I'm Only Sleeping

by vote_saxon



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Ballroom, Dancing, Dreaming, Dreams, F/M, Fantasy, Kissing, give me love, kol - Freeform, men in suits, nathaniel buzolic - freeform, sleeping, tvd, wake up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-12
Updated: 2015-03-24
Packaged: 2018-03-12 00:06:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3337304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vote_saxon/pseuds/vote_saxon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma loves to sleep. Probably because when she is asleep there is a charming and handsome man in a suit that wants to dance with her-and his name is Kol Mikaelson.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I'm Only Dreaming

I was sleeping. I could tell because I could feel my bed and my eyes were closed. I was dreaming. I could tell because behind my closed eyelids was a grand mansion where a ballroom was filled with dancing people.

  
I willed myself forward to be closer to the formal party and found myself to be dressed in the most glamorous sparkling blue gown. Something I could never fathom wearing in my real world. I did a small spin and twirled my way into the dance.

  
No one looked at me as if I were out of place or glanced at me at all.

  
  
I recognized the music, it was Ed Sheeran and I loved this song. That made sense because this was clearly a beautiful dream.

  
Everyone was dancing in pairs so I just drifted around the dance floor until I felt a hand on my waist pull me onto the main floor.

  
I could never dance so gracefully in the real world and with a handsome stranger such as I was now.

  
"I don't believe we have had the honour of meeting darling." He said to me in an accent I couldn’t place.

  
"Emma" I said, nodding my head forward in a small curtsy. “Sorry to ask, sir, but where exactly is your accent from?”

  
"Same place as me, coincidentally; everywhere.” He grinned.  “And please, please-“ he dramatically put his hand over his heart as if I had stabbed him, “don’t call me ‘sir’.”

  
“My apologies, what shall I call you then?”

  
“Well you have told me your name so it’s only fair I do you the same honour. I am Kol Mikaelson. Welcome to my brothers’ home.” he grinned.

  
“He actually lives here?” I was very surprised by how grand the mansion was that someone could actually live in a place like this.

  
“Indeed, my brother, I and the rest of my siblings, we all live here together.”

  
“Wow, you must be close to tolerate still living together as adults.”

  
“Something probably went horribly wrong in our psychological upbringing and now we can’t be without each other. Always and forever!” he tilted his head towards the bannister in a nod to a figure there, as if the man could hear Kol’s words.

  
I just continued to be led around by him; I was impressed by his charm. Well, of course I would be, he was the perfect figment of my imagination.

  
“I’ve amused you?” He asked, dipping me.

  
“I was just thinking….I’m sure I’ve made you up in my mind.”

  
“What makes you think that?” he raised an eyebrow at me.

  
“I am asleep and dreaming you right now.” I said matter of factly.

  
This seemed to amuse Kol to no end. He must think I am messing with him.

  
“If you only knew the reality of what brought my family together on this evening, you would never mistake this for a dream.” Kol said, with a tinge of sadness in his voice.

  
 I wanted to be concerned but after all, this didn’t really exist, was not actually happening, and wouldn’t matter in the morning.

  
 “I can prove that this is a dream!” I proposed.

  
 Kol smiled widely and gave me a look that could only mean “try me”. So, I did.

  
 I leapt up and wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him.

  
He seemed surprised but leaned into it and kissed me right back.

  
Clearly now I had proven my point. People didn’t just go around to random ballrooms in random mansions and dance with beautiful men and kiss them 5 minutes after they had met.

  
“You look smug, but you have proven nothing.” Kol stated after our faces separated. He didn’t stray far from mine, talking just an inch away from my own now.

  
“This never would happen in my real life.” I whispered now. He was a glorious kisser and I just hoped to remember this kiss as a guideline for acceptable kisses for the rest of eternity.

  
 “You’re in for a right shock when you don’t wake up from this.” Kol started to smile and twirl me around again when-

  
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.

 

  
   
I rolled over and slammed my hand down in my iphone, hurting myself on the solid surface in the process, and doing nothing to silence the damn alarm.

  
“Sorry Kol.” I thought to myself, “I always have to wake up.” I sighed and rolled out of bed, leaving my perfect night behind in my bed once again.

  
This was becoming a recurring dream. Every night I met this alluring man named Kol and we always have a magical time and then I wake up.

  
Waking up sucks.

  
I did my regular routine and got ready for work. There I was going to face my boss from Hell and get yelled at for something or another.

 

  
Sometimes I wished I could just stay asleep forever.


	2. The Nightmare Begins

“I am SO tired.” I whined with my face buried in my folded arms.

“You can make it, just one more hour and then you can go home.”

My coworker Bella patted me on the back before turning back to her own laptop to continue working. I would probably never make it through the day without her.

The days seemed longer and I always felt like I was getting less and less done. All I really wanted was to escape my job and go home. Better than home, I wished I could run away.

My hazy dreams came back to me in flashes during the worst parts of my day. Kol’s face would find its way to the forefront of my mind and distract me. It was hard to remind myself that _he wasn’t real._

 

Finally back home, I tossed my purse sadly onto the couch and followed my typical mindless routine of turning on the water kettle and starting to change into more comfortable clothes.

My nights were usually spent alone, but I was just so busy with work there was never time to meet anyone new.

No one understood me anyways, I barely understood myself these days. Always tired and listless.

I tried to imagine what life would really be like if Kol was a real person, forced to live in this monotonous world. I shuddered to think of him having to work on a computer or answer phones for a living. He was safer in a fantasy world, safe from being boring.

 

Finally as the clock ticked past 1AM, and I sat up cozy in my bed alone, I could push sleep away no longer. Letting my book fall to the floor and tossing my glasses onto the nightstand I flicked off the lamp and shut my eyes, willing them to open in the morning, and yet for the moment to show me better things as I slept.

 

\--

 

I found myself in a garden. The stars were out and a warm breeze drifted past me. Another sparkling fairytale, just like always. I looked down at my feet and found knee high black boots walking on the cobblestoned pathway. I admired also the light blue ball gown I was wearing, and grabbed hold of the sides, hiking it up slightly as I danced myself over to a white porch swing. I sat down gently and leaned my head back on the top as I rocked back and forth.

“You left me mid-dance M’lady.” A voice with an English lilt came from beside me. I knew that voice well, I barely needed to open my eyes.

“Good evening Kol.” I smiled.

“Not many would be able to scorn me in such a way and live to tell about it you know.” His words were menacing but at the same time I felt playfulness in them.

“Then I am pleased and grateful for the air my lungs continue to breathe.” I said to him. “But, wait…” I lifted my head and opened my eyes, turning towards him, my brain finally registering something. “You remember me?”

He chuckled softly, “How could I not remember you? We danced but mere minutes ago. You told me I was dreamy.” His eyes seemed to twinkle.

“I didn’t even say that. I said I was dreaming you.”

“Same difference.” He grinned, taking my hand and kissing it.

“But, truly though, I’ve met you in my dreams so many nights. What makes this time any different? You never remember me.” I asked mostly to myself, he had no way of knowing. He was just a figment of my imagination. A very handsome figment of my imagination.

“Emma, do you plan on walking away from me again? Or would you come back inside and dance with me some more?” He asked eagerly.

“I would dance with you but I really like this garden…and I know it will be gone soon, for I will be gone from here. Can we stay here?”

Kol still seemed to think I was the crazy one and I wondered why on Earth my subconscious decided to create a beautiful dream only to have it consistently questioning me.

“We can dance here couldn’t we?” Kol suggested.

“That never even occurred me, of course we could.” I stood up and offered him my hand, knowing my time would be up soon. It always ended before anything really good could happen.

“Do you trust me Emma” He asked suddenly as he hands clasped behind my back, pulling me close.

“I barely know you sir. You can’t expect me to trust you on your looks alone.” I said.

“Good, that’s good. Never trust a pretty face.” He kissed my cheek and the next thing I knew we were under attack. Or, at the very least, he was.

 

He crumbled to the floor in pain, his eyes flashing around as if unable to see, his hands gripping at the air in panic. I stood back, unsure how to act. It was like watching a man drown on dry land.

“What can I do?!” I fell to my knees to help him when I heard screams from beyond the garden where the mansion from last night lay.

 

I tried to pull him up, or away, out of the pathway. He pushed me away and I fell into a bush. I felt a branch scratch me hard on my arms and legs as I fell. I had never felt any kind of pain in a dream before.

 

Things seemed darker, less sparkly. It felt distinctly less like a dream now, especially as I found my bearings, on my hands and knees under the bush. I could see Kol’s face change as I crawled towards him again. He couldn’t see me, but ever so gradually and finally sharp and deadly teeth were exposed and lines were surrounding his face with a look of evil as he growled in pain again and disappeared in a swift breath in the direction of the forest opposite the screams.

 

This was no dream, this was a nightmare, and I couldn’t wake up.


	3. I'm Wide Awake

I’m Wide Awake

 

I was crouched on the floor underneath the bush that Kol had shoved me into. I had scrapes on my arms and my exposed ankles. It was a highly inconvenient time to be wearing a ball gown and I wished I was wearing something that would make it less awkward for me to get back to my feet.

Everything was quiet now, and I was alone in the garden. Kol had run away and I had no way to explain what my eyes at seen. Why would my dream turn into such a nightmare? The beautiful man’s charming face having been distorted right before my eyes, why would this happen? Was there no safe place for my heart to hide anymore?

I knew calling out for him would do nothing; he had gone too far away. Perhaps I could ask for help inside, where all the dancers had been. They seemed nice, and normal. They could help me.

I felt insane. Of course they couldn’t help me, this was a dream and they were not real. The only thing I could do to help myself now was to wake up.

I continued to feel silly, and still a bit scared as I mindlessly walked across the garden and back into the dance hall. If I was stuck asleep for the moment there was no sense in pausing the dream, I might as well go inside and dance or something. Standing around was very dull, very much like my real life and so very much not the point of sleeping and dreaming.

I recognized one of the men right away, one that Kol had motioned to, one of his family members. The man seemed to recognize me as well, and he was beside me before I could blink. Distinctly dream like in nature, no one could move that fast in the real world.

“Hello darling, I don’t think we have been properly introduced, my name is Klaus, this is my family home. I believe I saw you with my brother Kol earlier.” He said with a strong posh English accent. It was much more crisp and proper than Kol’s voice and I wondered how siblings could have such varying tones of speech, they seemed so very close in age. “Have you any idea where he’s gone?”

I decided to indulge the mystery novel that this dream demanded to play out.

“Kol was attacked in the garden and after a fit he ran into the forest.” I said calmly, not fully believing that Kol or I were in any legitimate danger.

Klaus’ eyes turned serious, and dark. “You speak of this so calmly, but this is no simple matter. This isn’t a safe place for an innocent maiden like yourself.”

“It’s my dream, where else would I be?” I shrugged, even though his voice sent chills down my spine.

“You never noticed how empty and quiet it has become in here? After all the screaming, everyone had fled…everyone but you!” He roughly grabbed my upper arm and held onto me hard, I felt like I was getting a blood pressure test done where the tester was a psychotic control freak that just kept the machine running forever.

“Let go of me.” I demanded, the pain becoming more and more real.

“You wander back in here after witnessing Kol being attacked! Calm as a cucumber you are, who are you? Why did you attack my brother?!” he threw me across the room, my head banging into their fancy ceramic ball room walls. I felt dizzy and yet some relief at my arm no longer being held in his grip.

This man was insane and dangerous, but he was right, I hadn’t even noticed that we were the only ones in the room; perhaps the only ones in the whole building. I didn’t see anything that could have been the source of all that screaming, and then I realized why he was the only one left. He had been what had made everyone scream.

A scream started to well up in my own throat but before it could find air, I was tossed again, sliding across the waxed dancefloor in my pretty dress. It was like we were dancing, but very violently.

I wished Kol was here, he was never rough with me. He could put a stop to this and explain to Klaus what had really happened. That I was just dreaming and that I was innocent.

“Kol!” I yelled out in panic as Klaus came up to me again, I assumed to continue throwing me around like a hackey sack.

I was very surprised when Kol appeared before my eyes, and scooped me up into his arms. His face stil contorted I was extra surprised that I recognized him at all. But there was one thing that I knew for sure, over the months I had been dreaming of my charming man, he would always come for me and protect me. So despite it all, I wrapped my arms around his neck and just let it happen. I let him take me out of the ball room and at whiplash speed, we were headed away from Klaus.

The wind on my face and my heart beat pounding away in my chest; two things quickly became abundantly clear. I wasn’t waking up, and Kol was very real.


End file.
